Personal reports from 10 years of experiencing waterfalls in Southeast Asia

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Neatly served

Well signposted, Sai Rung (which translates as rainbow) waterfall might be rated as the better known of Khao Lak’s triple waterfalls, just north of the beach center.

Otherwise known by the local name of Pak Weep (Pakweep), the turnoff is just north of the bridge, north of Le Meridien. The wide road leads one to beyond a turnoff to the waterfall, a total of 3 km from the main highway 4. Again the road heads through the linear plantings of palmoil and rubber. The road ends at a car park. Sort of a car park.

Continuing on foot, the obvious trail goes over a bridge to a cluster of huts on the opposite bank. The environs of these are being swept by an elderly gentleman, it still being early morning, looking forward to the new day, the new guests. The trail continues beyond, to a fall with a delicious pool underneath.

A novelty of sorts, a table is waiting on us, the table well set, drinks poured and towels within reach. Totally incomprehensible, these are not destined for us! Set back a little from the table are two westerners, busily cooking their own meal under direction/assistance of only 5 local cooks.Probably from the nearby Sarojin resort.

The waterfall itself is a 30m crash. On the opposite bank, steps leads one up into the slippery and slimy rainforest. It just goes up and up as the falls are in reality a set of crashing falls seemingly unendless, falling down from somewhere higher, even higher.

As Khao Lak (Phang Nga) is an upcoming resort to cater to the increasing numbers of tourists seeking exactly an escape, it's no wonder that waterfalls feature highly on the to do list of any visitor.Khaolakhotels.com mentions Sai Rung being the

'We originally set off well prepared with a map looking for a different waterfall. The map was absolutely useless and after a few hours of driving through beautiful countryside and stopping and asking numerous times where to go, we decided to head back to the hotel for a swim'.

Waterfalls of Asia is a feeble attempt to highlight Southeast Asia's great waterfalls and swimming holes, be they popular or unknown. Tourists flock to the beaches while locals know where the best places are to cool off, up the creek surrounded by nature. Who knows you might be able to skinny dip! Enjoy